Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T22:58:16.919Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Holocene vegetation signals in the Alashan Desert of northwest China revealed by lipid molecular proxies from calcareous root tubes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2017

Zhuolun Li ,
Youhong Gao  and
Lang Han
Zhuolun Li*
Affiliation:
College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Center for Desert and Climatic Change in Arid Region, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Youhong Gao
Affiliation:
College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Center for Desert and Climatic Change in Arid Region, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Lang Han
Affiliation:
College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Center for Desert and Climatic Change in Arid Region, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
*
*Corresponding author at: College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Center for Desert and Climatic Change in Arid Region, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China. E-mail address: [email protected] (Z. Li).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In the hinterland of deserts, it is difficult to reconstruct paleovegetation using fossil pollen because of the low pollen concentration. Therefore, an efficient method is needed to reconstruct the paleovegetation of desert regions. In this study, 34 Holocene calcareous root tube (CRT) samples were collected from the Alashan Desert in northwest China, and lipid molecular proxies from CRTs were selected to address this deficiency. The results show that n-alkanes mainly maximized at C27, C29, and C16, and that the carbon preference index is close to 1. Thus, the sources of n-alkanes from CRTs were the roots of higher plants and microorganisms, and thus changes in n-alkanes from CRTs could reveal variations in vegetation cover. The n-alkane Cmax of long-chain n-alkanes (C>25) in CRTs, maximizing at C27, indicated that vegetation in the Alashan Desert was characterized by shrub vegetation during the Holocene. Changes in the ratio of (C27+C29)/(C31+C33) indicated that the biomass of shrub vegetation increased during the period 7–2 cal ka BP. Moreover, the relative concentration of short-chain to long-chain n-alkanes decreased from 7 to 2 cal ka BP, suggesting that the effective moisture decreased during that period.

Keywords

PaleovegetationRhizolithsn-AlkanesHoloceneSand seaArid region
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 88 , Issue 1 , July 2017 , pp. 60 - 70
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Alonso-Zarza, A.M., 2003. Palaeoenvironmental significance of palustrine carbonates and calcretes in the geological record. Earth-Science Reviews 60, 261–298.Google Scholar
Alonso-Zarza, A.M., Genise, J.F., Cabrera, M.C., Mangas, J., Martín-Pérez, A., Valdeolmillos, A., Dorado-Valiño, M., 2008. Megarhizoliths in Pleistocene aeolian deposits from Gran Canaria (Spain): ichnological and palaeoenvironmental significance. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 265, 39–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bai, Y., Fang, X., Nie, J., Wang, Y., Wu, F., 2009. A preliminary reconstruction of the paleoecological and paleoclimatic history of the Chinese Loess Plateau from the application of biomarkers. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 271, 161–169.Google Scholar
Bai, Y., Fang, X., Wang, Y., Kenig, F., Chen, X., Wang, Y., 2006a. Branched alkanes with quaternary carbon atoms in Chinese soils: potential environmental implications. Science Bulletin 51, 1115–1122.Google Scholar
Bai, Y., Fang, X., Wang, Y., Kenig, F., Miao, Y., Wang, Y., 2006b. Distribution of aliphatic ketones in Chinese soils: potential environmental implications. Organic Geochemistry 37, 860–869.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradshaw, R.H.W., 1981. Modern pollen-representation factors for woods in south-east England. Journal of Ecology 69, 45–70.Google Scholar
Bush, R.T., Mcinerney, F.A., 2013. Leaf wax n-alkane distributions in and across modern plants: implications for paleoecology and chemotaxonomy. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 117, 161–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chang, X.L., Zhao, A.F., Li, S.G., 2000. Responses of species diversity to precipitation change on fixed-dunes of the Naiman Banner region. Acta Phytoecologica Sinica 24, 147–151.Google Scholar
Chen, F., Yu, Z., Yang, M., Ito, E., Wang, S., Madsen, D.B., Huang, X., et al 2008. Holocene moisture evolution in arid central Asia and its out-of-phase relationship with Asian monsoon history. Quaternary Science Reviews 27, 351–364.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fan, Y.X., Chen, F.H., Fan, T.L., Zhao, H., Yang, L.P., 2010. Sedimentary documents and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating for formation of the present landform of the northern Ulan Buh Desert, northern China. Science China: Earth Sciences 53, 1675–1682.Google Scholar
Ficken, K.J., Li, B., Swain, D.L., Eglinton, G., 2000. An n-alkane proxy for the sedimentary input of submerged/floating freshwater aquatic macrophytes. Organic Geochemistry 31, 745–749.Google Scholar
Gao, Y.H., Zhang, Z.S., Liu, L.C., Jia, R.L., 2009. Effects of vegetation on soil respiration in the Tengger Desert. [In Chinese with English abstract.] Acta Pedologica Sinica 46, 626–633.Google Scholar
Gocke, M., Gulyás, S., Hambach, U., Jovanović, M., Kovács, G., Marković, S.B., Wiesenberg, G.L.B., 2014a. Biopores and root features as new tools for improving paleoecological understanding of terrestrial sediment-paleosol sequences. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 394, 42–58.Google Scholar
Gocke, M., Hambach, U., Eckmeier, E., Schwark, L., Zöller, L., Fuchs, M., Löscher, M., Wiesenberg, G.L.B., 2014b. Introducing an improved multi-proxy approach for paleoenvironmental reconstruction of loess–paleosol archives applied on the Late Pleistocene Nussloch sequence (SW Germany). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 410, 300–315.Google Scholar
Gocke, M., Kuzyakov, Y., Wiesenberg, G.L.B., 2010. Rhizoliths in loess – evidence for post-sedimentary incorporation of root-derived organic matter in terrestrial sediments as assessed from molecular proxies. Organic Geochemistry 41, 1198–1206.Google Scholar
Gocke, M., Kuzyakov, Y., Wiesenberg, G.L.B., 2013. Differentiation of plant derived organic matter in soil, loess and rhizoliths based on n-alkane molecular proxies. Biogeochemistry 112, 23–40.Google Scholar
Gocke, M., Pustovoytov, K., Kühn, P., Wiesenberg, G.L.B., Löscher, M., Kuzyakov, Y., 2011a. Carbonate rhizoliths in loess and their implications for paleoenvironmental reconstruction revealed by isotopic composition: δ13C, 14C. Chemical Geology 283, 251–260.Google Scholar
Gocke, M., Pustovoytov, K., Kuzyakov, Y., 2011b. Carbonate recrystallization in root-free soil and rhizosphere of Triticum aestivum and Lolium perenne estimated by 14C labeling. Biogeochemistry 103, 209–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hartmann, K., Wünnemann, B., 2009. Hydrological changes and Holocene climate variations in NW China, inferred from lake sediments of Juyanze palaeolake by factor analyses. Quaternary International 194, 28–44.Google Scholar
He, Y.H., 2006. The Research on the Interrelationship between the Plants and Water Resource in Ulan Buh Desert. Inner Mongolica Agricultural University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China.Google Scholar
Herzschuh, U., Kürschner, H., Ma, Y., 2003. The surface pollen and relative pollen production of the desert vegetation of the Alashan Plateau, western Inner Mongolia. Chinese Science Bulletin 48, 1488–1493.Google Scholar
Herzschuh, U., Tarasov, P., Wünnemann, B., Hartmann, K., 2004. Holocene vegetation and climate of the Alashan Plateau, NW China, reconstructed from pollen data. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 211, 1–17.Google Scholar
Hoffmann, B., Rehm, H.J., 1977. Degradation of long chain n-alkanes by Mucorales. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 3, 273–281.Google Scholar
Jin, M., Li, G., Li, F., Duan, Y., Wen, L., Wei, H., Yang, L., Fan, Y., Chen, F., 2015. Holocene shorelines and lake evolution in Juyanze Basin, southern Mongolian Plateau, revealed by luminescence dating. Holocene 25, 1898–1911.Google Scholar
Klappa, C.F., 1980. Rhizoliths in terrestrial carbonates: classification, recognition, genesis and significance. Sedimentology 27, 613–629.Google Scholar
Kuzyakov, Y., Shevtzova, E., Pustovoytov, K., 2006. Carbonate re-crystallization in soil revealed by 14C labeling: experiment, model and significance for paleo-environmental reconstructions. Geoderma 131, 45–58.Google Scholar
Li, J., Ilvonen, L., Xu, Q., Ni, J., Jin, L., Holmstrom, L., Zheng, Z., et al., 2016a. East Asian summer monsoon precipitation variations in China over the last 9500 years: a comparison of pollen-based reconstructions and model simulations. Holocene 26, 592–602.Google Scholar
Li, J., Xu, Q., Zheng, Z., Lu, H., Luo, Y., Li, Y., Li, C., Seppa, H., 2015a. Assessing the importance of climate variables for the spatial distribution of modern pollen data in China. Quaternary Research 83, 287–297.Google Scholar
Li, Q., Wu, H., Guo, Z., Yu, Y., Ge, J., Wu, J., Zhao, D., Sun, A., 2014. Distribution and vegetation reconstruction of the deserts of northern China during the mid-Holocene. Geophysical Research Letters 41, 5184–5191.Google Scholar
Li, X.R., Tan, H.J., He, M.Z., Wang, X.P., Li, X.J., 2009a. Patterns of shrub species richness and abundance in relation to environmental factors on the Alxa Plateau: prerequisites for conserving shrub diversity in extreme arid desert regions. Science China: Earth Sciences 52, 669–680.Google Scholar
Li, Y., Wang, N., Cheng, H., Long, H., Zhao, Q., 2009b. Holocene environmental change in the marginal area of the Asian monsoon: a record from Zhuye Lake, NW China. Boreas 38, 349–361.Google Scholar
Li, Y., Xu, Q., Zhao, Y., Yang, X., Xiao, J., Chen, H., Lü, X., 2005. Pollen indication to source plants in the eastern desert of China. Chinese Science Bulletin 50, 1356–1364.Google Scholar
Li, Y., Yang, S., Wang, X., Hu, J., Cui, L., Huang, X., Jiang, W., 2016b. Leaf wax n-alkane distributions in Chinese loess since the Last Glacial Maximum and implications for paleoclimate. Quaternary International 399, 190–197.Google Scholar
Li, Z., Pan, N., He, Y., Zhang, Q., 2016c. Evaluating the best evaporation estimate model for free water surface evaporation in hyper-arid regions: a case study in the Ejina basin, northwest China. Environmental Earth Sciences 75, 295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, Z., Wang, N., Cheng, H., Li, Y., 2016d. Early–middle Holocene hydroclimate changes in the Asian monsoon margin of northwest China inferred from Huahai terminal lake records. Journal of Paleolimnology 55, 289–302.Google Scholar
Li, Z., Wang, N., Cheng, H., Ning, K., Zhao, L., Li, R., 2015b. Formation and environmental significance of Late Quaternary calcareous root tubes in the deserts of the Alashan Plateau, northwest China. Quaternary International 372, 167–174.Google Scholar
Li, Z., Wang, N., Li, R., Ning, K., Cheng, H., Zhao, L., 2015c. Indication of millennial-scale moisture changes by the temporal distribution of Holocene calcareous root tubes in the deserts of the Alashan Plateau, northwest China. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 440, 496–505.Google Scholar
Liu, H., Liu, W.G., 2015. Relationship of plant leaf wax n-alkanes molecular distribution characteristics and vegetation types. [In Chinese with English abstract.] Journal of Earth Environment 6, 168–179.Google Scholar
Liu, W., Huang, Y., 2005. Compound specific D/H ratios and molecular distributions of higher plant leaf waxes as novel paleoenvironmental indicators in the Chinese Loess Plateau. Organic Geochemistry 36, 851–860.Google Scholar
Liutkus, C.M., 2009. Using petrography and geochemistry to determine the origin and formation mechanism of calcitic plant molds; rhizolith or tufa? Journal of Sedimentary Research 79, 906–917.Google Scholar
Long, H., Lai, Z., Wang, N., Li, Y., 2010. Holocene climate variations from Zhuyeze terminal lake records in East Asian monsoon margin in arid northern China. Quaternary Research 74, 46–56.Google Scholar
Mischke, S., Demske, D., Schudack, M., 2003. Hydrologic and climatic implications of a multidisciplinary study of the mid to late Holocene Lake Eastern Juyanze. Chinese Science Bulletin 48, 1411–1417.Google Scholar
Mischke, S., Lai, Z., Long, H., Tian, F., 2015. Holocene climate and landscape change in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau foreland inferred from the Zhuyeze Lake record. Holocene 26, 643–654.Google Scholar
Pancost, R.D., Boot, C.S., 2004. The palaeoclimatic utility of terrestrial biomarkers in marine sediments. Marine Chemistry 92, 239–261.Google Scholar
Prentice, I.C., 1985. Pollen representation, source area, and basin size: toward a unified theory of pollen analysis. Quaternary Research 23, 76–86.Google Scholar
Pustovoytov, K., Schmidt, K., Parzinger, H., 2007. Radiocarbon dating of thin pedogenic carbonate laminae from Holocene archaeological sites. Holocene 17, 835–843.Google Scholar
Rodrı́guez-Aranda, J.P., Calvo, J.P, 1998. Trace fossils and rhizoliths as a tool for sedimentological and palaeoenvironmental analysis of ancient continental evaporite successions. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 140, 383–399.Google Scholar
Schwark, L., Zink, K., Lechterbeck, J., 2002. Reconstruction of postglacial to early Holocene vegetation history in terrestrial Central Europe via cuticular lipid biomarkers and pollen records from lake sediments. Geology 30, 463–466.Google Scholar
Singh, G., Chopra, S.K., Singh, A.B., 1973. Pollen-rain from the vegetation of north-west India. New Phytologist 72, 191–206.Google Scholar
Sugita, S., 1994. Pollen representation of vegetation in Quaternary sediments: theory and method in patchy vegetation. Journal of Ecology 82, 881–897.Google Scholar
Wakeham, S.G., 1990. Algal and bacterial hydrocarbons in particulate matter and interfacial sediment of the Cariaco Trench. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 54, 1325–1336.Google Scholar
Wang, H., Greenberg, S.E., 2007. Reconstructing the response of C3 and C4 plants to decadal-scale climate change during the late Pleistocene in southern Illinois using isotopic analyses of calcified rootlets. Quaternary Research 67, 136–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, M., Dong, Z., Lu, J., Li, J., Luo, W., Cui, X., Zhang, Y., Liu, Z., Jiao, Y., Yang, L., 2015. Vegetation characteristics and species diversity around the Badain Jaran Desert. [In Chinese with English abstract.] Journal of Desert Research 35, 1226–1233.Google Scholar
Wang, N., Li, Z., Cheng, H., Li, Y., Huang, Y., 2011. High lake levels on Alxa Plateau during the Late Quaternary. Chinese Science Bulletin 56, 1799–1808.Google Scholar
Wang, P., Clemens, S., Beaufort, L., Braconnot, P., Ganssen, G., Jian, Z., Kershaw, P., Sarnthein, M., 2005. Evolution and variability of the Asian monsoon system: state of the art and outstanding issues. Quaternary Science Reviews 24, 595–629.Google Scholar
Wang, Z.Y., Liu, Z.H., Yi, Y., Xie, S.C., 2003. Features of lipids and their significance in modern soils from various climato-vegetation regions. [In Chinese with English abstract.] Acta Pedologica Sinica 40, 967–970.Google Scholar
Wiesenberg, G.L.B., Gocke, M., Kuzyakov, Y., 2010. Fast incorporation of root-derived lipids and fatty acids into soil – evidence from a short term multiple 14CO2 pulse labelling experiment. Organic Geochemistry 41, 1049–1055.Google Scholar
Wright, H.E., 1967. The use of surface samples in quaternary pollen analysis. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 2, 321–330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, V.P., Tucker, M.E., 1988. Biogenic Laminar Calcretes: Evidence of Calcified Root-Mat Horizons in Paleosols. Blackwell, Oxford, UK.Google Scholar
Xu, Q., Cao, X., Tian, F., Zhang, S., Li, Y., Li, M., Li, J., Liu, Y., Liang, J., 2014. Relative pollen productivities of typical steppe species in northern China and their potential in past vegetation reconstruction. Science China: Earth Sciences 57, 1254–1266.Google Scholar
Xue, J., Dang, X., Tang, C., Yang, H., Xiao, G., Meyers, P.A., Huang, X., 2016. Fidelity of plant-wax molecular and carbon isotope ratios in a Holocene paleosol sequence from the Chinese Loess Plateau. Organic Geochemistry 101, 176–183.Google Scholar
Yang, X., 2000. Landscape evolution and precipitation changes in the Badain Jaran Desert during the last 30000 years. Chinese Science Bulletin 45, 1042–1047.Google Scholar
Yang, X., Ma, N., Dong, J., Zhu, B., Xu, B., Ma, Z., Liu, J., 2010. Recharge to the inter-dune lakes and Holocene climatic changes in the Badain Jaran Desert, western China. Quaternary Research 73, 10–19.Google Scholar
Yang, X., Scuderi, L., Paillou, P., Liu, Z., Li, H., Ren, X., 2011. Quaternary environmental changes in the drylands of China – a critical review. Quaternary Science Reviews 30, 3219–3233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yang, X., Scuderi, L.A., 2010. Hydrological and climatic changes in deserts of China since the late Pleistocene. Quaternary Research 73, 1–9.Google Scholar
Zamanian, K., Pustovoytov, K., Kuzyakov, Y., 2016. Pedogenic carbonates: forms and formation processes. Earth-Science Reviews 157, 1–17.Google Scholar
Zech, M., Rass, S., Buggle, B., Löscher, M., Zöller, L., 2012. Reconstruction of the late Quaternary paleoenvironments of the Nussloch loess paleosol sequence, Germany, using n-alkane biomarkers. Quaternary Research 78, 226–235.Google Scholar
Zhang, E., Wang, Y., Sun, W., Shen, J., 2016. Holocene Asian monsoon evolution revealed by a pollen record from an alpine lake on the southeastern margin of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, China. Climate of the Past 12, 415–427.Google Scholar
Zhang, H.C., Ma, Y., Wünnemann, B., Pachur, H.-J., 2000. A Holocene climatic record from arid northwestern China. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 162, 389–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhao, Y., An, C.B., Mao, L., Zhao, J., Tang, L., Zhou, A., Li, H., Dong, W., Duan, F., Chen, F., 2015. Vegetation and climate history in arid western China during MIS2: new insights from pollen and grain-size data of the Balikun Lake, eastern Tien Shan. Quaternary Science Reviews 126, 112–125.Google Scholar
Zhao, Y., Yu, Z., 2012. Vegetation response to Holocene climate change in East Asian monsoon-margin region. Earth-Science Reviews 113, 1–10.Google Scholar
Zhao, Y., Yu, Z., Chen, F., Ito, E., Zhao, C., 2007. Holocene vegetation and climate history at Hurleg Lake in the Qaidam Basin, northwest China. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 145, 275–288.Google Scholar
Zhao, Y., Yu, Z., Chen, F., Li, J., 2008. Holocene vegetation and climate change from a lake sediment record in the Tengger Sandy Desert, northwest China. Journal of Arid Environments 72, 2054–2064.Google Scholar
Zhao, Y., Yu, Z., Chen, F., Zhang, J.W., Yang, B., 2009. Vegetation response to Holocene climate change in monsoon-influenced region of China. Earth-Science Reviews 97, 242–256.Google Scholar
Zheng, Z., Wei, J., Huang, K., Xu, Q., Lu, H., Tarasov, P., Luo, C., et al 2014. East Asian pollen database: modern pollen distribution and its quantitative relationship with vegetation and climate. Journal of Biogeography 41, 1819–1832.Google Scholar
Zhong, Y., Xue, Q., Chen, F., 2009. n-Alkane distributions in modern vegetation and surface soil from western Loess Plateau. [In Chinese with English abstract.] Quaternary Sciences 29, 767–773.Google Scholar
Zhu, J., Wang, N., Chen, H., Dong, C., Zhang, H., 2010. Study on the boundary and the area of Badain Jaran Desert based on the remote sensing imagery. [In Chinese with English abstract.] Progress in. Geography 29, 1087–1094.Google Scholar
Zhu, Y., Xie, Y., Cheng, B., Chen, F., Zhang, J., 2003. Pollen transport in the Shiyang River drainage, arid China. Chinese Science Bulletin 48, 1499.Google Scholar